Circular toy bowling-alley



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P. BURKE L.

CIRCULAR TOY BOWLING ALLEY.

No. 322,416. Patented July 21, 1885.

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CIRCULAR TOY BOWLING ALLEY.

(No Model.)

Patented July 21,1885.

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PATENT OFFICE.

PETER BURKEL, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS.

CIRCULAR TOY BOWLING-ALLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,416, dated Ju1y 21, 1885.

(N model.)

player when his ball passes through between To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER BURKEL, of Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circular Toy Bowling-Alleys; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The character of my invention will be evident from the following detailed description; and its object is to afford for parlor or indoor amusementa compact circular alley in which free or unattached balls and free or unattached pins, similar in kind to those used in ordinary bowling-alleys, are employed, and in which, also, the balls after being used, may, by putting them in an appropriate trough or gutter, be automatically carried back to the front of the toy to be within easy reach of the player.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view, and Fig. 2 a vertical cross section, of a toy embodying my invention; Fig. 3, a one, and Fig. 4 a maller,which may be used in playing the game. Fig. 5 represents one of the pins. 7

The toy may be made of any desired material and its main body consists of a central flatbottomed or cup-like portion, a, for holding any desired number of pins, 1), a higher portion, 0, constituting the circular alley, and having a surrounding guard or wall, d, for confining the balls in the travel, this alley c inclining gently downward toward the part a, as shown, to facilitate the gravitating of the nearly spent balls from the alley 0 down into the cup at.

A series of pins, posts, or arch es, 6, f, g, &c., serve to divide into equal spaces a circular line or space near the junction of the alley with the cup, as shown, thus affording so many different entrances or doorways through which-the balls may pass from the alley to the cup or pin compartment.

A series of numbers placed, as shown, upon the inner face of the wall d serves to indicate the number which may be counted for the any two of these posts, the numbers being placed opposite these several passages or doorways. These numbers may of course be arbitrary, according to the game proposed, and i may be changed, if desired. Also, any number of pins may be employed,whether one or more.

A table, j, is preferably provided upon which to place a ball before driving it around the alley. V

A tube, h, is made communicating with the alley, and into the mouth of this tube a ball is placed prior to its being shot forward in its course around the alley; or when the table is used, the ball may be driven from it into the tube.

A gutter, k, extending partly around the outside of the wall (I, and slightly inclined, serves, when balls are placed in it, to allow them to feed themselves by gravity toward the front of the toy, a top or end piece, I, arresting the lowermost one until wanted for use; and this being taken, the others move downward of themselves.

The apparatus as a whole may be placed upon a table made expressly for. it; or it may be used upon any table or in any position or place convenient for playing.

While many games may beplayed with the apparatus, as ones ingenuity may suggest, I will describe one by way of illustration. Suppose five pins be set in the center, as designated. The ball is then placed on the table in line with the tube, or just within the outer mouth of the tube, and by means of a small stick, or a cue similar in kind to a billiard-cue, or a mallet, or in any other way, if preferred, a blow is given to the ball,which sends it through the tube and drives it around the circle. Then as the momentum and speed of the ball decreases, it gradually inclines toward the central pit in which stand the pins. If the ball should finally drop through an opening marked 100, that amount is scored for the player; and if the ball as it drops knocks down three pins, then the score is one hundred and three, and so on, according to the number indicating any opening through which the ball drops, and to the number of pins dropped by any ball.

A little bell, m, is hung at one ofthe openings, and if the ball strikes it, that also entitles the player to any number of count previously agreed upon, in addition to the counts above named. Suppose the ball drops into the cup opposite the number 55 and knocks down five pins, this would score sixty. If in doing this the ball shall have struck the bell also, and twenty shall have been previously determined on as the bell-nun1ber, then that ball would score eighty in all.

Of course it will be understood that this toy may be made of any size or proportions, as well as of any desired material or materials, and may be portable or stationary. The gutter or trough 7t, and the platform or table 3' may in some cases be omitted in making the toy, but it is more complete with them.

I claim 1. In combination with the continuous circular-walled alley c d, the cup (I, the circular system of posts or arches ef in said alley, and the ball-receiving tube h, open at both ends and adapted for the insertion of the ball at its outer mouth, and for propelling the ball through it by means of a stick or cue, as set forth.

2. In combination, the alley made with a wall completely circular, the circular system of posts or arches e f in such alley, pins b, nonpartitioned cup a, tube h, adapted to receive a ball at its outer mouth, and platform j, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with a toy circular bowling-alley, provided with a stationary or fixed platform,j, for holding balls, the curved and inclined gutter 70, extending partly aroundthe outside of the circular alley and leading to said platform, and provided with a stop Z, all substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with the central cup and with the circular alley surrounding the same, the series of posts or arches e f, located as described, and a bell, m, hung in the space between two of the posts, all as and for the purposes set forth.

PETER BURKEL.

Vitnesses:

J. ALSEHULER, E. T. PRINDLE. 

